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Secret handshake

Distinct form of handshake or greeting which indicates membership

Secret handshake

Distinct form of handshake or greeting which indicates membership

Masonic recognition sign

A secret handshake is a distinct form of handshake or greeting which indicates membership in or loyalty to a club, clique or subculture. The typical secret handshake involves placing one's fingers or thumbs in a particular position, one that will be recognized by fellow members while seeming to be a normal handshake to non-members. This is most frequently associated in the popular consciousness with college fraternities, fraternal orders and secret societies.

Examples

In the Roman mystery religion Mithraism, members were initiated with a handshake, and members were known as syndexioi (united by the handshake).

Freemasons are among the long-standing users of secret "grips" (similar to handshakes) as tokens.

Some (but not all) of the denominations from the Latter Day Saint Movement also use secret grips as tokens, adopted and adapted from the concept of grips used as tokens in Freemasonry.

Secret handshakes are also used by college fraternities in the United States, and used by members as recognition symbols in later life.

References

References

  1. Duncan, Malcolm C.. (2005). "Duncan's Masonic ritual and monitor: or, Guide to the three symbolic degrees of the ancient York rite, and to the degrees of mark master, past master, most excellent master, and the royal arch". Sweetwater Press.
  2. M. Clauss, ''The Roman cult of Mithras'', p. 42: "That the hand-shaken might make their vows joyfully forever"
  3. Buck, Kate. (2018-02-08). "Do Freemasons really have a secret handshake?".
  4. "Temple Ceremony / Masonry".
  5. (December 23, 2013). "Secret handshakes greet frat brothers as Wall Street women trail".
Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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